Thread: Touch up on Norton 4000

Hi all,

My razor needed some touch up

so I went to the 4000 Norton for around 5 strokes.

While honing no slurry from the metal particles was created.

How do you guys interpret that?

There is little metal to be removed because the razor is sharp? More pressure was needed?

The razor's weight is usually all the pressure I keep on the stone.

I haven't tested the razor yet.

Thanks a lot.

Step one: test the razor! If it is working fine, then don't worry about it. The shave test is after all the only test that really matters.

As for the lack of swarf, if you were only looking to touch up an edge that is starting to degrade, you don't want to be removing a lot of steel - especially in just a handful of strokes. In some cases, hardly any at all.

If you really want to see swarf then yes, adding pressure would accomplish that, but probably at the cost of your edge.

No matter how sharp the razor is metal will be removed when honing. Since you only did five strokes I do not think you would have created much swarf.

While a 4k norton is part of the honing process it really should not be the final hone you use. I find that the 8k is the minimum level that is comfortable to shave with. I have tried a 1k and 4k just to see what it is like and while they did the job it was not comfortable.

If you have a pasted strop then you might be able to go to that after the 4k but I do not use them so I would wait for someone with first hand experience to see if it is possible.

As far as pressure while touching up a razor you are spot on with just using the weight of the razor.

Good luck,
Marc

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I went to the 8000 Norton and to my 12000 Naniwa after

the 4000 Norton.

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by ssg1

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I went to the 8000 Norton and to my 12000 Naniwa after

the 4000 Norton.

Thanks a lot.

Well how'd it turn out? Usually on a touch up you can go straight to the 12k. If that isn't working step down to the 8k. I dont get much swarf on my 4k unless it's right off the 1k. One great tip I got from the wiki was if the 8k is showing a decent amount of swarf after the 4k you jumped up too soon and should go back.

It didn't seem right to me not to get swarf on the 4k so I posted
the thread.

I also got the tip from the wiki.

Thanks.